text:
Last month, more than 50 Getty Museum staff members signed a letter to Getty Trust CEO James Cuno and his bosses, the Board of Trustees, objecting to recent cuts in the museum's education department. (See below for full text.)
For those not familiar with the Getty culture, grumbling about management has long been a varsity sport there, but such open displays of dissent are more rare.
The anger is focused on Cuno's decision to eliminate 12 of the Getty's 17 gallery teachers — a unique position in the museum world that put the Getty in a leading role in arts education. The paid teachers, many of whom had Masters in the arts, will be replaced by volunteer docents, "educated individuals who themselves want deep experiences with art, and who will in turn seek to deepen student and visitor engagement with artworks," according to the posted Getty job announcements. (We've previously written about Cuno's cuts here and here.)
The cuts will allow more visiting students to get guided tours and are aimed at saving some $4 million annually than can be used for new acquisitions of art, the Getty has said. But some from inside and outside of the Getty have questioned the wisdom of targeting educators. (Be sure to read the comments at those links, including the response from Cuno.)
Several museum staffers have contacted us in recent weeks with their concerns, calling Cuno's less-is-more position "Orwellian." The running joke among staff is that with Cuno's focus on acquisitions, the Getty should change its web address from getty.edu to getty.acq. Some have suggested other areas for savings in the Getty's $270 million a year operation. For example: Timothy Potts, who will take over as director of the Getty Museum in September, recently asked that the Getty replace the furniture in his future office. The existing furniture — which Potts referred to as "Pee Wee Herman furniture" — has been moved out and mid-century modern pieces are being sought to replace them. Also: The Skidata ticket machines being installed in the garage for the new automated parking system were recently sent back to the factory for custom painting, a museum staffer tells us. It appears they come in two standard colors, neither of which matched the Getty's travertine. (This is not to mention the six-figure salaries of top Getty officials.)
Such examples may seem petty, but it was symbolic excesses amid belt-tightening that fueled the deep anger at Cuno's predecessor Barry Munitz, who was ultimately driven from his job in 2006 for self-dealing with Getty funds. (Ironically, back then Getty museum officials were also upset that Munitz was too focused on hobbies like education policy, and not willing to dedicate the necessary funds to build the Getty's collection.) It will be worth watching how these sentiments unfold in the months before the arrival of Potts.
Here is the full text of the May letter from museum staff, with Cuno's response below it:
May 4, 2012
Dear Dr. Cuno and the Board of Trustees:
We support and share your objective "to maintain the Museum's very high standards of excellence in all areas." While we will strive to maintain these high standards in the face of staffing reductions, the drastic and sudden changes to the Education Department's structure and philosophy will significantly jeopardize our efforts.
The Getty Museum has been at the forefront in the museum field not only for its excellent exhibitions and collections, but also for our approach to education in both theory and practice. A key aspect of this has always been our professional and highly-trained gallery teaching positions. All of the Gallery Teachers and program staff have extensive knowledge of art history, child development theories, and teaching pedagogy, particularly as it relates to object-based and informal learning. Like all of the professionals in the museum, we stay abreast of the research which determines best practices in our field. Indeed, after 20 years of research, our colleague Elliott Kai-Kee has co-written the book on what exemplary gallery teaching can and ought to be. Across the country, colleagues in other museums have used the ideas articulated in the book as a model for the kind of transcendent experience they want their visitors to have in their own galleries. Yet, we find ourselves suddenly in the midst of deep changes to the Getty's teaching philosophy without a rigorous analysis of how best to meet the institution's current priorities without sacrificing quality.
The removal of the Gallery Teachers and the plan to replace them with docents with a mere four months lead time is emblematic of the nature of these changes. The Getty's professional Gallery Teachers are unique in the museum world and have been symbolic of the institution's deep commitment to quality educational experiences, particularly for school children. Many of the Gallery Teachers have master's degrees in art history, fine art or classical studies, all of which result in unique perspectives that provide insight into the complex history or creation of an object. Moreover, the Gallery Teachers' deep knowledge of the collection, in addition to their status as employees, allows for the much-needed ability to teach any tour at a moment's notice for any type of audience—from a VIP group to students who are English language learners. We agree in holding our curatorial and conservation staff to the highest standards, and we are disappointed that the front line professionals who interact with the public will no longer be held to the same high standards.
After the staff meeting on April 4, we were optimistic that the administration's stated support for arts education in LAUSD would translate to a commitment to the quality of students' experience in our galleries. Instead, the sudden elimination of key staff will result in the hurried substitution of volunteers for experienced educators and an overall reduction of professional development programs for teachers. We are deeply concerned that volunteers who may not have had any prior teaching experience will have a difficult time learning about our collection and the needs of the diverse LAUSD school population within a two-month training period. Unfortunately, the students of LAUSD will once again be the victims of cuts to professional, highly trained teaching staff.
It is deeply unfortunate that the standards that make the Getty Museum a leader in the field of education have now been compromised. In the future, we hope to work together to devise effective, thoughtful strategies for teaching in the galleries that would meet our core mission while maintaining a standard of excellence.
Getty Staff Members
Cuno responded on June 1 with the following email to museum department heads:
Dear Colleagues,
As you may know, I received a letter from numerous Museum staff members regarding the recent changes in Museum Education. It is very important that everyone have a chance to express their views on decisions taken by Getty administration and I very much appreciated the candor and constructive tone with which the letter was written.
Since there were no typed names and departmental affiliations to help identify the letter's signatories with any confidence, I am asking you to share this with your colleagues if you think it is appropriate.
Our goal in transitioning from a wholly professional gallery teacher staff to a mixture of professional and volunteer teaching staff was to provide many more guided tours for our school group visitors than we currently provide.
Last years total attendance in our School Programs was 114,000. Of these, 74,000 were Title One students (a U.S. Department of Education program that provides support for school districts with the highest student concentration of poverty) and 40,000 non-Title One. Of the total attendance, only 39,000 experienced guided tours by gallery instructors; 67,000 were self-guided, or experienced the museum and its galleries with minimal assistance from us. An expanded docent teaching corps, carefully selected and expertly trained by our experienced gallery instructors, along with the development of multi-media tours, will enable us to meet our goals within the constraints of our budget.
I have the greatest confidence in our Museum educators. Under Toby's leadership, they attract and train an excellent corps of volunteer teachers. And given that volunteer-led tours are the norm in our profession, our shift of emphasis positions us to play a leadership role in this aspect of Museum Education. We are grateful to the contributions our gallery instructors have made and will make in this regard. Having the ability to serve more of our visitors with a guided tour at a level of instruction appropriate to their needs was an important consideration as we thought about reorganizing the gallery instruction program.
Thank you again for your letter. And thank you for your good work.


text:
Toggle navigation
SQLBits 2023
Videos on Demand
Sessions & Content
Sessions & Content
Content Type
Slide Deck
SQLBits VI
data warehousing
Denormalisation -having your cake and eating it
Mark Whitehorn
Why and when denormalisation makes sense.
The video is not available to view online.
Design patterns for SSIS Performance
Darren Green
Do you wonder about SSIS performance? Well I do, and I've compiled my research into this session. We'll cover various design patterns for solving common problems like inserts vs. updates, is it faster to use a lookup, or can you just catch the errors and process them afterwards? As well as the richer patterns we'll look at some straight comparisons between two components that can be used to do perform the same task and ask which one is quicker?
Designing and Tuning high speed data loading
Thomas Kejser
If you want to understand how to load data into Sql Server very quickly then this is the session for you.
Event Driven Cube Performance and Security Monitoring
David Elliott
This session will investigate using Stream Insight, SQL Server and Analysis Services to provide an example framework to monitor cube usage as well as suggest a mechanism for highlighting areas for performance and security enhancements.
Fast Track Foundations: Get Serious about Sequential I/O
James Rowland-Jones
Fast Track is a new reference data warehousing architecture provided by Microsoft. More than this it represents a new way of thinking about data warehousing. A Fast Track system is measured by its raw compute power - not by a DBAs ability to tune an index. Fast Track is an appliance-like solution that delivers phenomenal performance from a pre-defined, balanced configuration of CPU, memory and storage using nothing but commodity hardware. Of particular interest in a Fast Track system is the way in which the storage and SQL Server are configured. To achieve the fantastic throughput without using SSDs requires some careful configuration. This configuration is designed to make use of Sequential I/O to dramatically improve disk I/O performance. Interested? If you have a large data warehouse that's seen better days or perhaps you are about to embark on a new warehousing project then you should be! Fast Track is a great solution with a fantastic value proposition. In this one hour session we'll aim to get under the skin of Fast Track and get some answers as to how it delivers such great throughput on commodity hardware. In the process we'll aim to answer the following questions: * When might I need Fast Track? * What is Sequential I/O? * How does Sequential I/O improve performance? * What do I need to do to get Sequential I/O? * How can I monitor for Sequential I/O ? * What may I need to change in my ETL to get the benefit of sequential I/O? Still reading? I'll save you a front row seat....
Getting Started with SQL Azure
Keith Burns
Everything you need to know to get up and running with this new technology
Handling large scale systems
Increase the "out of the box" performance and throughput of SQL Server.
High Availability in the Real World!
Thomas Pullen
What HA options will help me in reality?
High performance functions
Simon Sabin
Encapsulating common code in fucntions is one of the first things you learn as a programmer. However with SQL Server functions can be very bad for performance. In this session we will examine scalar functions in both TSQL and in .Net. You will come away from this session understanding the pitfalls of TSQL functions and how you can make them run 100 times faster.
Improving database development with source control
Red Gate
This demonstration shows you how to manage database changes using source control within SQL Server Management Studio.
Improving Database Performance by Removing the Database
Simon Munro
A challenge to traditional patterns of processing, storing and retrieving the precious data that we are responsible for
Inside the SQL Server Query Optimizer
Conor Cunningham
Understand the Query Optimiser from the man who knows!
Introduction to Performance Tuning Analysis Services 2008
Chris Webb
Learn to tune Analysis Services 2008 query performance
Lessons Learned from 128 Core OLTP Testing
Thomas Kejser
See the lessons learned from stressing 128 cores
Make your DBA life better using SQL Server technologies - notes from field & best practices
Satya Jayanty
A typical day of DBA and new features of SQL Server 2008 can help - save a minute.
Monitoring and Tuning Parallel Query Execution
R Meyyappan
In this session with examples we will cover how to identify inefficiencies in parallel query execution. We will also investigate some invisible symptoms! Keywords: MAXDOP, CXPACKET, SLEEP_TASK & SOS_SCHEDULER_YIELD. I don't have a quad core laptop yet, so I will do the best with my dual core!
Non-Functional Dependencies - A talktorial on getting performance and scalability right through proper Database Design and understanding Set and Relational theory
Tony Rogerson
Bad performance is often systemic of poor queries which are systemic of bad schema design which is systemic of non-relational thinking which is systemic of project time constraints and lack of understanding of Database Design. In this talk/tutorial I'll work my way through Normalisation, we'll look at the Relation Model and how to think in sets - it's very important; throughout I'll be referring to Codd and Date's teachings. Theory aside I'll do all my demonstrations in SQL Server - concurrency, indexing, good T-SQL practices and advice.
Optimizing tempdb and temporary object use
Christian Bolton
This session will cover how and why you should configure tempdb, how to troubleshoot tempdb issues, and how to detect, resolve, and mitigate allocation contention issues by creating multiple data files, optimizing temporary object reuse, and using trace flag 1118.
Performance Management for SQL Server with SCOM 2007
Bob Duffy
Learn to love SCOM! Out of the box the SCOM Management Pack for SQL Server is not popular with DBA's. This demo based session will take you through the process of how you can extend SCOM to properly monitor and analyse SQL performance. Ultimately providing performance management scorecards and dashboards for your CIO.
Performance Monitoring & Tuning - Documented Tips & Tricks
R Meyyappan
With examples we will discuss tips and tricks that will be useful for Developers, DBAs and Consultants.
Performance Troubleshooting made easy with PAL
Justin Langford
If you've ever needed to review large Performance Monitor (PerfMon) logs and find problems quickly - you'll know how time consuming it can be to identify problems. Performance Analysis for Logs (PAL) is a great tool to quickly highlight performance problems - taking the leg-work out of PerfMon log analysis.
Photograph: SQL Server Crash Dump Analysis
Pablo Doval
This session will reveal the basics of analyzing crash-dumps in order to troubleshoot SQL Server crashes or abnormal situations. We will also review the postmortem analysis of common (but tricky) development problems, such as connection leaks, using WinDbg and Adplus.
Scaleout scenarios with Service Broker
Klaus Aschenbrenner
SQL Server 2008 provides a lot of scaleout technologies.
The video is not available to view online.
SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Scalability and Performance
Rob Carrol
This session covers the new scalability features of SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 and demonstrates how to build a high performance reporting platform to deal with your enterprise reporting needs.
SQLSentry Optimizing SQL Server Performance
SQLSentry Optimizing SQL Server Performance
Supercharge MDX performance using MDX Studio
Ashwani Roy
MDX Studio can be used to analyze complex MDX expressions, monitor performance characteristics of MDX queries and get insight into how MDX interacts with other UDM features such as attribute relationships.
Transaction Log Performance Tuning, Stop shouting Timber!
Chirag Roy
This session aims to enlighten the audience on improving Log file design, implementation and management for extracting maximum performance from SQL Server using real world examples and strategy. The session will focus on SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008 and SQL 2008 R2.
Troubleshooting the SQL Server Service
What do you do when the SQL Server Service won't start?
More information
Sponsorship options
Code of conduct
Terms & Conditions
Meet the team
Videos & Sessions
Contact Us
Copyright © 2023 SQLBits Limited. All Rights Reserved.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
NBA: Judge OKs sale of Clippers
LOS ANGELES – A judge ruled against Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling on Monday in his attempt to block the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
In the tentative ruling, Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas sided with Sterling's estranged wife Shelly Sterling, who burst into tears when the ruling was announced.
"I can't believe it's over. I feel good," she said.
Shelly Sterling negotiated the sale of the team after the 80-year-old billionaire was banned by the NBA for making offensive remarks about blacks.
She sought approval from a probate judge for the deal she struck after removing her husband from the trust that owned the team when doctors found he had signs of Alzheimer's disease and couldn't manage his affairs.
Donald Sterling claimed his wife deceived him about the medical exams.
He later revoked the trust after she negotiated the record-setting sales price and his lawyers argued that the move killed the deal. They said the case didn't belong in probate court because the trust had been dissolved.
The ruling in Los Angeles County Superior Court is unlikely to put an end to the bizarre saga that began in April when a recording surfaced of Sterling scolding his young girlfriend for bringing black men to Clippers games. The NBA moved quickly to ban Sterling for life and fined him $2.5 million.
Sterling was apologetic after the audio recording went viral, but his mea culpa backfired when he criticized Lakers great Magic Johnson, who had been photographed with Sterling's girlfriend, as a bad role model for kids because he had HIV. Sterling was roundly criticized from locker rooms to the Oval Office, where President Barack Obama called Sterling's remarks "incredibly offensive racist statements."
With the NBA threatening to seize the team and auction it, Sterling initially gave his wife of 58 years permission to negotiate a sale but then refused to sign it. He said he would sue the league instead and then revoked the trust.
The nonjury trial held over several weeks focused mainly on whether Shelly Sterling properly removed her husband as a trustee and whether her actions carried any weight after he revoked the trust.
Donald Sterling's lawyers contended that his wife and her lawyers conspired to trick him and that the mental exams by two doctors were faulty. They said Sterling didn't know his competency as a trustee was being evaluated and that he showed no signs of incompetence on the witness stand.
In combative testimony, Sterling said he would "never, ever sell" the team he bought in 1981 for about $12 million. He vowed to fight the NBA in court until the day he dies.
Before taking the stand, he kissed his wife and then testified that he loved her. But the following day when she approached him in court he yelled, "get away from me, you pig!"
Sterling, a lawyer who made a fortune as a landlord, has filed an antitrust lawsuit in federal court against the NBA and he sued his wife, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the league in state court.
Lawyers for Shelly Sterling and Ballmer had urged the judge to let the sale go through because it was in the best interest of the family trust. They said an auction was less likely to bring such a high price and that coach Doc Rivers, key players and sponsors were likely to walk if Donald Sterling's ownership was prolonged.
"The trust has a golden bird in the hand," Shelly Sterling's lawyers wrote in court papers. "A sale of the Clippers for $2 billion is indisputably a bonanza for the Sterling family. Donald's strident opposition is motivated by only selfish considerations."
Donald Sterling said he could get more for the team by also selling TV rights and through his $9 billion suit against the league.


text:
Have a very beery summer
Summer is just about here, and that means the weekend calendars are packed with beer events nearly every single weekend.
Here's a look at several upcoming events that all look like a lot of fun. I'm hoping to get to most, if not all of these.
First up is Julio's Liquor's 11th Annual Spring Beer Fest. The free festival will be on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Rte. 9 liquor store.
The festival will feature 50 breweries, including Ballast Point, Bear Republic, City Steam, High & Mighty, Rising Tide, Victory and Wormtown.
Also, the latest Julio's Liquors exclusive beer, brewed by Smuttynose, will debut on Sunday. The Fashionable Old Ale is brewed and bottled exclusively for Julio's Liquors.
Next up is Jack's Abby Brewing's second annual Lager Cask Fundraiser at the Tavern on Irving Street in Framingham.
The fundraiser will feature 24 lager casks, and all the money will be donated to One Mission, which helps fund for research and treatment for children's cancer patients.
Tickets are $10 a head of time, or $15 at the door, which gets you a souvenir glass. Beers will be $5 a pint or $2.50 for a six ounce pour.
The Lager Cask Fundraiser will be held on Friday, May 24 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday, May 25 from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Participating breweries include Jack's Abby, Mahr's, The Tap Brewing Company, Pretty Things, Berkshire Brewing Company, Left Hand Brewing Company, Notch Brewing, Watch City Brewing Company, John Harvard's Brewery & Ale House, Blue Point Brewing, Martha's Exchange, Thomas Hooker, Cape Cod Beer and the Harpoon Brewery.
Tickets are available by clicking here.
On May 31, the Sherborn Business Association will host its annual Summer Brewfest from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at the Sherborn Inn.
Proceeds will benefit the Sherborn Community Action Fund.
Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Tickets are available at the Sherborn Inn, Rose's Automotive, Sherborn Wine & Spirits, Sherborn Market and Walgeens.
Beginning on the same day is the Beer Advocate's American Craft Beer, held at the Seaport World Trade Center Boston.
Tickets are still available for the March 31 session, and the second June 1 session, beginning at 6 p.m.
The festival, the largest in New England, will feature more than 600 beers from more than 140 breweries.
The list looks fantastic, and features several breweries that I've never seen at the ACBF. For a list of breweries and beers, and to buy tickets, click here.
On June 14 and 15, the Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts will be hosting its second annual Hyper-Local Craft Brewfest at The Armory in Somerville.
There are three sessions – session one is on June 14 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and is the homebrew showcase night. The next two sessions are on Saturday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Participating breweries include Blue Hills, Cambridge Brewing Company, Idle Hands Craft Ales, Notch Brewing, Peak Organic Brewing and Rapscallion. Local meaderies participating are the Artisan Beverage Cooperative/Green River Ambrosia Meadery and Moonlight Meadery. Local cider maker Bantam Cider Co. will also be on hand.
Tickets are $35 and available by clicking here.
On June 26 at 7 p.m., Brewery Ommegang and SAVEUR Magazine are teaming up to host the culinary competition called Hop Chef.
The event challenges chefs to create the perfect beer and food pairing.
The winners from four regional competitions will travel to "Belgium Comes to Cooperstown" later this year to compete for the national Hop Chef winner.
Participating chefs include Joshua Smith of Franklin Cafe, Brian Young of the Citizen Public House, Andy Husbands of Tremont 647, Michael Lombardi Jr. of the Salty Pig and Josh Harrison of the Publick House.
Each chef prepares a dish to be paired with an Ommegang ale, and they will defend their dish to national and local food critics.
As well as the judges, the event will be open to 300 people, who will be able to taste all of the dishes.
Tickets are $60 each and are available by clicking here.
Finally, WBGH is hosting its first ever Craft Beer Fest on July 13 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at its studies in Boston.
The event will feature beers from Baxter Brewing Company, Blue Hills Brewery, Boston Beer Works, Naukabout, Newburyport Brewing Company, Peak Organic, Pretty Things, Slumbrew and Smuttynose.
Tickets are available by clicking here.


text:
Robert Reich on the Situation of Health Care Reform
Posted by The Situationist Staff on July 2, 2009
From Bill Moyers' Journal: "Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich sits down with Bill Moyers to talk about the influence of lobbyists on policy, the economy, and the ongoing debate over health care." See the interview on the video below. From the interview, here is a bit of what Reich had to say about trends in wealth distribution.
* * *
"The fact of the matter is that, as late as 1980, the top 1 percent by income in the United States had about nine percent of total national income. But since then, you've had increasing concentration of income and wealth to the point that by 2007 the top 1 percent was taking home 21 percent of total national income. Now, when they're taking home that much, the middle class doesn't have enough purchasing power to keep the economy growing. That was hidden by the fact that they were borrowing so much on their homes, they kept on consuming because of their borrowing. But once that housing bubble exploded, it exposed the fact that the middle class in this country has really not participated in the growth of the economy, and over the long term we're not gonna have a recovery until the middle class has the purchasing power it needs to buy again."
* * *
Vodpod videos no longer available.
* * *
To read a sample of related Situationist posts, see "The Situation of Policy Research and Policy Outcomes," "Larry Lessig's Situationism," "Without the Filter," "The Situation of University Research," "The company "had no control or influence over the research" . . . .," " Deep Capture – Part VII," "Industry-Funded Research," and "Industry-Funded Research – Part II."
Rate this:
This entry was posted on July 2, 2009 at 11:36 am and is filed under Deep Capture, Distribution, Law, Politics, Public Policy, Video. Tagged: Bill Moyers, Deep Capture, health care reform, lobbying, policy debates, Robert Reich. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
One Response to "Robert Reich on the Situation of Health Care Reform"
July 5, 2009 at 2:30 pm
[…] Robert Reich on the Situation of Health Care Reform « The Situationist […]


text:
Office Phone:
View Phone Number
(732) 528-3700
View Phone Number
(732) 528-3833
Ward Wight Sotheby's International Realty
208 East Main StreetManasquan, NJ 08736
View my Additional Website
(ARA) - If you are among the nearly seven million Americans whose short-term debt exceeds 20 percent of their annual net income, a debt management program may be able to help you.
An effective debt management program consolidates your bills into one payment with several benefits: 1. Lower payments by up to 50 percent. 2. Pay off debt in 36 to 60 months. 3. Rebuild credit rating. 4. Stop harassing phone calls and letters.
How does Consolidated's Debt Management Program work?
After reviewing your financial situation, Consolidated's certified credit counselors work with your creditors to arrange reduced monthly payments, interest charges and fees for your unsecured debt.
You make a single monthly payment to Consolidated; those funds are then disbursed to all creditors on a monthly basis. If desired, members can enroll in the free autopay program which automatically deducts the required monthly payment from their account on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. You will continue to receive statements from your creditors reflecting the reduction of your debt at a more rapid rate. Upon completion of Consolidated's Debt Management Program, you may be eligible for the Cash Back Reward Program.
Can I really save money?
Yes! Clients of our program can realize savings of 20 to 50 percent in payments and drastically reduced interest rates, which enables them to pay off debt quicker and regain financial independence.
What about my credit rating?
Consolidated attempts to bring past due accounts to current status, having an immediate positive impact on your credit rating.
Visit us at consolidatedcredit.org or call us at (800) 320-9929 and one of our professional certified consultants will give you a Free Budget Analysis. A few minutes could save you thousands of dollars and get you on track to managing your debt.
Copyright © 2006, ARA Content


text:
Schizophrenia treatment a step up the ladder
Of all the mental illnesses, schizophrenia has proven to be the most recalcitrant in terms of finding drugs that have good efficacy, as well as minimal side effects. It also is perhaps the most devastating mental illness when it comes to public perception and stigma.
"It's one of the ones that psychiatry has made big advances in, but we're not that good at yet. We're darn good at depression, and pretty good at bipolar. We're an awful lot better at treating it than we were 50 years ago," said Dr. Brian Benton, medical director of psychiatric services at The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich.
A new drug treatment is now available to treat schizophrenia: Invega
released in January by Janssen L.P., a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company.
So far, Benton has seen the drug has been well-tolerated by his patients. He said it has the advantage of producing fewer side effects, interacts less with other medications and needs to be taken only once per day.
"It's an improvement over other meds, but it still has difficult side effects," Benton said. "We still do not have a medication that doesn't cause the risk of tardive dyskinesia — the newer medication a lot less, but it's still a risk."
Serious side effects
Tardive dyskinesia can be a serious, sometimes permanent side effect linked to many neuroleptic medications used to treat psychiatric illnesses. Dose and duration contribute to the likelihood of developing symptoms, which include uncontrollable movements of the face, tongue and other parts of the body.
And it's ironic, Benton said, one of the older medicines used to treat schizophrenia — Clozaril — is still considered the "gold standard." It usually works when all else fails, he said, but unfortunately its side effects aren't generally well-tolerated.
But medication, according to mental health professionals, is only one part of the equation in successfully treating an individual with schizophrenia.
"There's no doubt that the medication options for people with mental illness, especially schizophrenia, is only part of the challenge," said Dr. James O'Dea, clinical psychologist and administrative director of the department of psychiatric services at Backus. "When someone begins to exhibit the symptoms, this almost by definition becomes a family issue."
That's because, he said, the illness usually becomes symptomatic in young adulthood — ages 18-25.
"It's almost always going to have effects for a person's family. One of the things so critical is to do some early intervention."
Now, mental health professionals are encouraging people to be alert to "soft symptoms" as early as grade school.
"This is the odd or unusual kid on the sidelines, perhaps doesn't get involved as much,"Benton said."People can be very bright that get this illness."
A more positive outcome can be gained all around by early intervention in a multi-pronged approach of medication and therapy.
Finding the right medication, which for psychiatric illness can be a difficult time of trial and error, is crucial, stressed Benton. Research shows early treatment increases the prognosis.
"You want to find it as soon as you can and get them on treatment," Benton said. "The more episodes of severe psychosis, the worse it gets. They think the more severe episodes you have, you don't come back as good. That's true of all mental illnesses."
"A really holistic approach is needed. For some people it's very challenging — they go through so many trials and errors to find the right treatment, they forget about the fact that recovery requires a broad approach," said Kate Mattias, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Connecticut.
Degrees of symptoms
Yet as challenging as schizophrenia can be, it is important, Benton said, to realize like many illnesses, it presents itself in a spectrum, with degrees of severity in symptoms.
And that's why, O'Dea said, individuals and families get therapy and join support groups as soon as possible, so they can manage the illness and understand it.
"It's so very important that individuals with the illness and their family get education about how the illness will affect their lives, which is important because of the stigma associated with having mental illness," O'Dea said, crediting inaccurate portrayals of schizophrenia, as well as prejudice found in the media.
"Absent education, people may start to feel overwhelmed. We want people to feel optimistic and hopeful about recovery."
"There's an inordinate amount of stigma," Mattias said. "The diagnosis isn't well understood in the population. I think that the common public media images tend to frame the picture of an individual with schizophrenia as scary, violent, very disturbed, with a very refractory illness that can't be treated successfully with medication. That's all myth, and very untrue."
In fact, Benton estimates 80 to 90 percent of individuals with schizophrenia will function well — with 80 percent participating in the community independently.
"Many people with this illness can go on to fulfilling adult and interpersonal relationships, and employment and leisure and recreational activities," O'Dea said.
Reach Sharma Howard of the Norwich (Conn.) Bulletin at (860) 425-4235 or firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
EPSG Library (EPSG 8526 Code)
We found Spatial Reference System (SRS) information for EPSG 8526 code
Powered by aspose.com and aspose.cloud
EPSG registry system
We've already processed files with total size of MB
Leave feedback
3000 characters maximum
This page contains the Spatial Reference System (SRS) data found for the EPSG 8526 code.EPSG library is a clickable list of all codes arranged by serial numbers.We are constantly upgrading our library and we currently have approximately 10,000 items.
❓ What is EPSG code?EPSG code is a 4–5-digit number that represents coordinate reference system definitions.
❗ Where to get EPSG codes?Our Library has a wide selection of EPSG codes. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "EPSG Library" to see it.
💻 How long will it take to get all the information of an SRS?The app will immediately find the information and display the results on your screen.
🌐 Does the app work on my phone?Yes. The app works on both phones (IOS, Android, etc.) and stationary platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.).
Version: 23.21.3
(Release notes)
(Release notes)


text:
ABOVE PHOTO: Phillip Seymour Hoffman
JStone / Shutterstock.com
associated press
NEW YORK — A law enforcement official says tests have confirmed there was heroin in at least some of the dozens of plastic packets in a New York City
apartment where Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead. Officials are working to determine whether the drug was mixed or tainted with anything else.
An autopsy was conducted Monday. Police have been investigating Hoffman's death as an apparent overdose. Law enforcement officials said he was found with a
needle in his arm.
Two officials said Monday that at least four dozen small packets were found in the apartment. The officials said some packages were stamped with the ace of
hearts, others with the ace of spades.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk about the evidence found.
He was only 46, busy as ever and secure in his standing as one of the world's greatest actors.
There were no dissenters about the gifts and achievements of Philip Seymour Hoffman, whose death Sunday in New York brought a stunning halt to his
extraordinary and unpredictable career.
An Oscar winner and multiple nominee, Hoffman could take on any character with almost unnerving authority, whether the religious leader in command of his
every word in The Master, a trembling mess in Boogie Nights, or the witty, theatrical Truman Capote in Capote.
Fearless in his choices, encyclopedic in his preparation, he was a Shakespearean performer in modern dress, bringing depth and variety to charlatans,
slackers, curmudgeons and loners.
"Hearing that Philip Seymour Hoffman passed away came as much as a shock to me as to anyone else I'd imagine," says Anton Corbijn, director of A Most Wanted Man, one of two films (the other being In God's Pocket) starring Hoffman that premiered last month at the Sundance Film
He was not only the most gifted actor I ever worked with," Corbijn added, "…he had also become an incredibly inspiring and supportive friend."
Friends, peers, family members and his countless fans were in grief after Hoffman was found in his Greenwich Village apartment with what law enforcement
officials said was a syringe in his arm.
The two officials told The Associated Press that glassine envelopes containing what was believed to be heroin were also found with Hoffman. Those items are
being tested.
The law enforcement officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about evidence found at
the scene, said the cause of death was believed to be a drug overdose.
Police will only say the investigation is continuing.
Besides his Oscar win for Capote, the stage-trained Hoffman received four Academy Awards nominations and several nominations for theater awards,
including three Tonys. He was equally acclaimed and productive, often appearing in at least two to three films a year, while managing an active life in the
theater. He had been thriving for more than 20 years and no one doubted that a long, compelling run awaited him.
Like Laurence Olivier or Meryl Streep, his appeal was not bound by age or appearance or personality. He was not an actor whom audiences turned to for youth
and romance. Heavy set with a lumpy build and limp, receding blond hair, he was a character actor with the power to play the lead, in movies that screened
in both art houses and multiplexes.
"No words for this. He was too great and we're too shattered," said Mike Nichols, who directed Hoffman in Charlie Wilson's War and on stage in
"Death of a Salesman."
Hoffman spoke candidly over the years about past struggles with drug addiction. After 23 years sober, he admitted in interviews last year to falling off
the wagon and developing a heroin problem that led to a stint in rehab.
The law enforcement officials said Hoffman's body was discovered in a bathroom at his Greenwich Village apartment by a friend who made the 911 call and his
Late Sunday, crime-scene technicians carrying brown paper bags went in and out of Hoffman's building as officers held back a growing crowd of onlookers.
Hoffman's family called the news "tragic and sudden."
"We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Phil and appreciate the outpouring of love and support we have received from everyone," the family said in a
With a range and discipline more common among British performers than Americans, Hoffman was convincing whether comic or dramatic, loathsome or
sympathetic, powerless or diabolical.
In one of his earliest movie roles, he played a spoiled prep school student in Scent of a Woman in 1992. A breakthrough came for him as a gay
member of a porno film crew in Boogie Nights, one of several movies directed by Paul Thomas Anderson that Hoffman would eventually appear in. He
played comic, off-kilter characters in Along Came Polly and The Big Lebowski. He bantered unforgettably with Laura Linney as squabbling
siblings in The Savages. He was grumpy and idealistic as rock critic Lester Bangs in Almost Famous. He was grumpy and cynical as baseball
manager Art Howe in Moneyball.
In The Master, he was nominated for a 2013 Academy Award for best supporting actor for his role as the charismatic, controlling leader of a
religious movement. The film, partly inspired by the life of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, reunited the actor with Anderson.
He also received a 2009 supporting nomination for Doubt, as a priest who comes under suspicion because of his relationship with a boy, and a best
supporting actor nomination for Charlie Wilson's War, as a CIA officer.
Many younger moviegoers know him as the scheming Plutarch Heavensbee in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and he was reprising that role in the
two-part sequel, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, for which his work was mostly completed. The films are scheduled for November 2014 and November
2015 releases.
Just weeks ago, Showtime announced Hoffman would star in "Happyish," a new comedy series about a middle-aged man's pursuit of happiness.
Born in 1967 in Fairport, N.Y., Hoffman was an athletic boy, but a neck injury sustained while wrestling ended any hopes for a career in sports. He soon
became interested in acting, mesmerized at 12 by a local production of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons." He studied theater as a teenager with the New York
State Summer School of the Arts and the Circle in the Square Theatre. He then majored in drama at New York University.
In his Oscar acceptance speech for Capote, he thanked his mother for raising him and his three siblings alone, and for taking him to his first
play. Hoffman's parents divorced when he was 9.
On Broadway, he took on some of the stage's most ambitious parts — Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman," Jamie in "Long Day's Journey Into Night" and both
leads in "True West." All three performances were Tony nominated.
Last year, Hoffman crossed to the other side of the footlights to direct Bob Glaudini's "A Family for All Occasions" for the Labyrinth Theatre Company,
where he formerly served as co-artistic director. Hoffman has also directed "Jesus Hopped the A Train" and "Our Lady of 121st Street" for the company and
received Drama Desk Award nominations for both productions.
Hoffman is survived by his partner of 15 years, Mimi O'Donnell, and their three children.


text:
For the Harvard Law Record, Harvard Law Students, Anush Emelianova and Gustavo Ribeiro, wrote a nice summary of Dan Gilbert's recent lecture at Harvard Law School. His lecture, titled "Why Does the Brain Scare Itself?," drew a crowd of roughly 150 students and contributed to Gilbert's reputation as an amazing and captivating speaker. Here's Emilianova and Ribeiro's description.
* * *
Why does the brain scare itself? On Monday, October 19, Professor Dan Gilbert confronted this question in an event sponsored by first-year Section VI. Professor Gilbert, who wrote the bestselling book Stumbling on Happiness, is a Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and the Director of Harvard's Hedonic Psychology Laboratory. He opened his remarks by stating that the power of the mind to automatically make predictions by simulating outcomes is the key feature that distinguishes humans from other animals.
Because the brain is made up of semi-independent systems, it can talk to itself or even "scare itself." But Prof. Gilbert believes that the limited mental capacities of humans impose limits on the accuracy of predictions about the emotional impact of future events. He demonstrated this by identifying four limitations of the brain's ability to simulate the future: unrepresentativeness, essentialization, truncation, and presentism.
According to Prof. Gilbert, humans' mental simulations are unrepresentatively based on the individual's best or worst memories, failing to correspond to the average experience. When the mind produces imaginary scenarios, the images tend to be essentialized, that is, distilled to a simplified image with the details cut out. Remembered experiences also interfere with accurate prediction because they are truncated and fail to incorporate the ability to adapt to different situations over time. Furthermore, Prof. Gilbert believes the human mind has a "presentist" bias, accepting in most circumstances the fiction that tomorrow will be exactly like today and that the feelings at the moment of making a decision will persist until the outcome of that decision arises. As an example, Professor Gilbert demonstrated a photograph of a 16-year-old who had tattooed Pac-Man on her head, suggesting that the excitement of the moment would eventually give way to regret.
Professor Gilbert does not believe humans have the capacity to systematically prevent errors in mental simulations. "As I marinate you in the bloopers and foibles, the mistakes and biases of the human mind, you must be thinking, is there anything we can do about this? I'm happy to tell you the answer is no," he said.
Despite the failure of predictions to account for dynamic circumstances, humans tend to adapt or rationalize outcomes to make themselves feel better. Prof. Gilbert illustrated this tendency with the satisfied attitude of Pete Best, the original drummer for the Beatles.
Despite missing out on being part of one of the most successful bands ever, Best said in a 1994 interview that, "I'm happier than I would have been with the Beatles." Professor Gilbert argued that this was a striking example of rationalization.
Prof. Gilbert also indicated that there may be techniques available to minimize some types of cognitive error. "Surrogation," or asking others about their experience of a similar situation, can act as a more reliable guide than one's own expectations. In fact, according to Prof. Gilbert, any random person's actual experience of a given situation is likely to be much more predictive of our future enjoyment than our imaginary simulation of that same experience.
"Human beings are all basically the same."
* * *
The Project on Law and Mind Sciences will make the video of Gilbert's talk available within the next few weeks. To review a sample of related Situationist posts, see "Dan Gilbert To Speak at Harvard Law School," "Dan Gilbert on the Situation of Our Decisions," "Dan Gilbert on the Situation of Psychology," "The Situation of Climate Change," "The Heat is On," "The Situation of Happiness," and "Conversation with Dan Gilbert."


text:
By Frances D'Emillo
Associated Press
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (AP) — Benedict XVI left the Catholic Church in unprecedented limbo Thursday as he became the first pope in 600 years to resign, capping a tearful day of farewells that included an extraordinary pledge of obedience to his successor.
As bells tolled, two Swiss Guards standing at attention at the papal palace in Castel Gandolfo shut the thick wooden doors shortly after 8 p.m., symbolically closing out a papacy whose legacy will be most marked by the way it ended — a resignation instead of a death.
Benedict, who will spend his first two months of retirement inside the palace walls, leaves behind an eight-year term shaped by struggles to move the church beyond clerical sex abuse scandals and to reawaken Christianity in an indifferent world — efforts his successor will now have to take up.
For the time being, the governance of the Catholic Church shifts to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the camerlengo, or chamberlain, who along with the College of Cardinals will guide the church and make plans for the conclave to elect the 266th leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
One of Bertone's first acts was to lock the papal apartment inside the Vatican. In another task steeped in symbolism, he will ensure that Benedict's fisherman's ring and seal are destroyed.
On Benedict's last day, the mood was vastly different inside the Vatican than at Castel Gandolfo. At the seat of the popes, Benedict's staff tearfully bade the pontiff good-bye in scenes of dignified solemnity. A more lively atmosphere reigned in the countryside, with well-wishers jamming the hilltop town's main square shouting "Viva il Papa!" (Long live the pope!) and wildly waving the yellow and white flags of the Holy See.
"I am simply a pilgrim beginning the last leg of his pilgrimage on this Earth," Benedict told the cheering crowd in his final public words as pope.
It was a remarkable bookend to a papacy that began on April 19, 2005 with a similarly meek speech delivered from the loggia overlooking St. Peter's Square, where the newly elected Benedict said he was but a "simple humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord."
Over eight years, Benedict tried to set the church on a more traditional course, convinced that all the ills afflicting it — sexual abuse, dwindling numbers of priests and empty pews — were a result of a misreading of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
His successor is likely to follow in his footsteps given that the vast majority of the 115 cardinals who will elect the next pope were appointed by Benedict himself and share his conservative bent.
For the most part, his cardinals have said they understood Benedict's decision. But Sydney Cardinal George Pell caused a stir on Thursday by saying it was "slightly destabilizing" — a rare critique of a pope by one of his cardinals.
Benedict's journey into retirement began with a final audience with his cardinals Thursday morning, where he sought to defuse concerns about his future role and the possible conflicts arising from the peculiar situation of having both a reigning pope and a retired one living side-by-side inside the Vatican.
"Among you is also the future pope, whom I today promise my unconditional reverence and obedience," Benedict told the cardinals.
Benedict's decision to live at the Vatican in retirement, be called "emeritus pope" and "Your Holiness" rather than revert back to "Joseph Ratzinger" and wear the white cassock associated with the papacy has deepened concerns about the shadow he might cast over the next papacy.
Benedict has tried to address those worries over the past two weeks, saying that once retired he would be "hidden from the world" and living a life of prayer. On Thursday he took a step further with his own public pledge to place himself entirely under the authority of the new pope.
Benedict also gave a final set of instructions to the "princes" of the church who will elect his successor, urging them to be united as they huddle to choose the next pope.
"May the College of Cardinals work like an orchestra, where diversity — an expression of the universal church — always works toward a higher and harmonious agreement," he said.
It was seen as a clear reference to the deep internal divisions that have come to the fore in recent months following the leaks of sensitive Vatican documents that exposed power struggles and allegations of corruption inside the Vatican.
The audience inside the Apostolic Palace was as unique as Benedict's decision to quit, with the pope, wearing his crimson velvet cape and using a cane, bidding farewell to his closest advisers and the cardinals themselves bowing to kiss his fisherman's ring for the last time.
A few hours later, Benedict's closest aide, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, wept by his side as they took their final walk down the marbled halls of the Apostolic Palace to their motorcade that took them to the helipad at the top of a hill in the Vatican gardens.
As bells tolled in St. Peter's and in church towers across Rome, Benedict took off in a helicopter that circled St. Peter's Square, where banners reading "Thank You" were held up skyward so he could see. He flew to Castel Gandolfo, where he has spent his summers enjoying the quiet gardens overlooking Lake Albano.
Around the time he took off, the Vatican sent a final tweet from Benedict's Twitter account, (at)Pontifex. "Thank you for your love and support. May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives."
Soon afterward, that tweet and all Benedict's previous ones were deleted and the profile was changed to read "Sede Vacante."
And a few seconds past 8 p.m., the soft click of the 20-foot-high wooden door at Castel Gandolfo closed, signaling the end of the papacy. A Vatican official was then seen taking down the Holy See's white and yellow flag from the Castel Gandolfo residence.
"We have the pope right here at home," said Anna Maria Togni, who walked two kilometers (one mile) from the outskirts of Castel Gandolfo to witness history. "We feel a tenderness toward him."
Benedict set his resignation in motion Feb. 11, when he announced that he no longer had the "strength of mind and body" do to the job. It was the first time that a pope had resigned since Pope Gregory XII stepped down in 1415 to help end a church schism.
In the weeks since Benedict's announcement, speculation has mounted whether other factors were to blame. By the time his final day came around though, Benedict seemed perfectly serene with his decision.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the pope's pledge to obey his successor was in keeping with his effort to "explain how he intends to live this unprecedented situation of an emeritus pope."
"He has no intention of interfering in the position or the decisions or the activity of his successor," Lombardi said. "But as every member of the church, he says fully that he recognizes the authority of the supreme pastor of the church who will be elected to succeed him."
The issue of papal obedience is important for Benedict. In his last legal document, he made new provisions for cardinals to make a formal, public pledge of obedience to the new pope at his installation Mass, in addition to the private one they traditionally make inside the Sistine Chapel immediately after he is elected.
The Rev. Thomas Reese, author of "Inside the Vatican," a guide to the Vatican bureaucracy, welcomed Benedict's similarly public pledge, saying: "There is room in the church for only one pope and his pledge of obedience shows that Benedict does not want to be used by anyone to undermine the authority of the new pope."
He said he would have preferred Benedict to go back to his given name and eschew the white of the papacy.
"Symbols are important in the church," he said.
Winfield reported from Vatican City.


text:
Syria warns U.S. not to intervene militarily
- The Assad regime has denied allegations that it was behind Wednesday%27s alleged attack
- Syria says any military action against it would set the Middle East ablaze
- Hagel said U.S. still weighing a possible response
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The Syrian government accused rebels of using chemical weapons Saturday and warned the United States not to launch any military action against Damascus over an alleged chemical attack last week, saying such a move would set the Middle East ablaze.
The accusations by the regime of President Bashar Assad against opposition forces came as an international aid group said it has tallied 355 deaths from a purported chemical weapons attack on Wednesday in a suburb of the Syrian capital known as Ghouta.
Syria is intertwined in alliances with Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas and Palestinian militant groups. The country also borders its longtime foe and U.S. ally Israel, making the fallout from military action unpredictable.
Violence in Syria has already spilled over the past year to Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Battle-hardened Hezbollah fighters have joined the combat alongside Assad's forces.
Speaking to reporters Sunday in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, U.S. Defense Secretary Hagel declined to say what action the U.S. might take. He said the administration is weighing many factors. These include an intelligence assessment of the attack in Syria, as well as what he called legal issues and the matter of international support for any military response.
Meanwhile, U.S. naval units are moving closer to Syria. U.S. defense officials told The Associated Press that the Navy had sent a fourth warship armed with ballistic missiles into the eastern Mediterranean Sea but without immediate orders for any missile launch into Syria. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss ship movements publicly.
President Obama has emphasized that a quick intervention in the Syrian civil war was problematic, given the international considerations that should precede a military strike.
After Obama met with his national security team Saturday, the White House said U.S. intelligence officials are still trying to determine whether Assad's government unleashed the chemical weapons attack earlier this week.
The White House statement said Obama received a detailed review of the range of options he has requested for the U.S. and the international community to respond if it is determined that Assad has engaged in deadly chemical warfare.
Obama spoke by telephone with British Prime Minister David Cameron about Syria, the White House said.
A statement from Cameron's office at No. 10 Downing St. said the prime minister and Obama are concerned by "increasing signs" that "a significant chemical weapons attack" was carried out by the Syrian government against its people. Obama and Cameron "reiterated that significant use of chemical weapons would merit a serious response from the international community," according to the statement.
Syria's Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi dismissed the possibility of an American attack, warning that such a move would risk triggering more violence in the region.
"The basic repercussion would be a ball of fire that would burn not only Syria but the whole Middle East," al-Zoubi said in an interview with Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV. "An attack on Syria would be no easy trip."
In Tehran, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Abbas Arakji, warned that an American military intervention in Syria will "complicate matters."
"Sending warships will not solve the problems but will worsen the situation," Arakji said in comments carried by Iran's Arabic-language TV Al-Alam. He added that any such U.S. move does not have international backing and that Iran "rejects military solutions."
In France, Doctors Without Borders said three hospitals it supports in the eastern Damascus region reported receiving roughly 3,600 patients with "neurotoxic symptoms" over less than three hours on Wednesday morning, when the attack in the eastern Ghouta area took place.
Of those, 355 died, the Paris-based group said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday that its estimated death toll from the alleged chemical attack had reached 322, including 54 children, 82 women and dozens of fighters. It said the dead included 16 people who have not been identified.
The group said it raised its death toll from an earlier figure of 136, which had been calculated before its activists in the stricken areas met doctors, residents and saw medical reports. It said the dead "fell in the massacre committed by the Syrian regime."
Death tolls have varied wildly over the alleged attack, with Syrian anti-government activists reporting between 322 and 1,300 killed.
Al-Zoubi blamed the rebels for the chemical attacks in Ghouta, saying that the Syrian government had proof of their responsibility but without giving details. "The rockets were fired from their positions and fell on civilians. They are responsible," he said.
With the pressure increasing, Syria's state media accused rebels in the contested district of Jobar near Damascus of using chemical weapons against government troops Saturday.
State TV broadcast images of plastic jugs, gas masks, vials of an unspecified medication, explosives and other items that it said were seized from rebel hideouts Saturday.
One barrel had "made in Saudi Arabia" stamped on it. The TV report also showed medicines said to be produced by a Qatari-German medical supplies company. Qatar and Saudi Arabia are strong supporters of the Syrian rebels. The report could not be immediately verified.
An army statement issued late Saturday said the discovery of the weapons "is clear evidence that these gangs are using chemical weapons against our people and soldiers with help from foreign sides."
The claims could muddy the debate about who was responsible for Wednesday's alleged gas attack, which spurred demands for an independent investigation and renewed talk of potential international military action if chemical weapons were used.
Just hours before the state media reports, the U.N. disarmament chief arrived in Damascus to press Assad's regime to allow U.N. experts to investigate the alleged Wednesday attack. The regime has denied allegations it was responsible, calling them "absolutely baseless" and suggesting they are an attempt to discredit the government.
The U.S., Britain, France and Russia have urged the Assad regime and the rebels fighting to overthrow him to cooperate with the United Nations and allow a team of experts already in Syria to look into the latest purported use of chemical agents. The U.N. secretary-general dispatched Angela Kane, the high representative for disarmament affairs, to push for a speedy investigation into Wednesday's purported attack. She did not speak to reporters upon her arrival in Damascus Saturday.
The state news agency said several government troops who took part in the Jobar offensive experienced severe trouble breathing or even "suffocation" after "armed terrorist groups used chemical weapons." It was not clear what was meant by "suffocation," and the report mentioned no fatalities among the troops.
"The Syrian Army achieved major progress in the past days and for that reason, the terrorist groups used chemical weapons as their last card," state TV said. The government refers to rebels fighting to topple Assad as "terrorists."
State TV also broadcast images of a Syrian army officer, wearing a surgical mask, telling reporters wearing similar masks that soldiers were subjected to poisonous attack in Jobar. He spoke inside the depot where the alleged confiscated products were placed.
"Our troops did not suffer body wounds," the officer said. "I believe terrorist groups used special substances that are poisonous in an attempt to affect this advance."
Al-Mayadeen aired interviews with two soldiers hospitalized for possible chemical weapons attack. The two appeared unharmed but were undergoing tests.
"We were advancing and heard an explosion that was not very strong," a soldier said from his bed. "Then there was a strange smell, my eyes and head ached and I struggled to breathe." The other soldier also said he experienced trouble breathing after the explosion.
Al-Mayadeen TV, which has a reporter embedded with the troops in the area, said some 50 soldiers were rushed to Damascus hospitals for treatment and that it was not yet known what type of gas the troops were subjected too.
In Turkey, top Syrian rebel commander Salim Idris told reporters that opposition forces did not use chemical weapons on Saturday and that "the regime is lying."
For days, the government has been trying to counter rebel allegations that the regime used chemical weapons on civilians in rebel-held areas of eastern Damascus, arguing that opposition fighters themselves were responsible for that attack.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius dismissed the Syrian government's claims.
"All the information we have is converging to indicate there was a chemical massacre in Syria, near Damascus, and that Bashar Assad's regime was behind it," Fabius told reporters during a visit to the West Bank city of Ramallah. He did not elaborate.
France has suggested that force could be used against Syria if Assad's regime was proven to have used chemical arms.
The new talk of potential military action in in the country has made an independent investigation by U.N. inspectors critical to determine what exactly transpired.
The U.N. experts already in Syria are tasked with investigating three earlier purported chemical attacks in the country: one in the village of Khan al-Assal outside the northern city of Aleppo in March, as well as two other locations that have been kept secret for security reasons.
It took months of negotiations between the U.N. and Damascus before an agreement was struck to allow the 20-member team into Syria to investigate. Its mandate is limited to those three sites, however, and it is only charged with determining whether chemical weapons were used, not who used them.
Leaders of the main Western-backed Syrian opposition group on Saturday vowed retaliation for the alleged chemical weapons attack.
From Istanbul, the head of the Syrian National Coalition, Ahmad Al-Jarba, also criticized the lack of response to the attack by the United Nations and the international community, saying the UN was discrediting itself.
"It does not reach the ethical and legal response that Syrians expect," he said. "As a matter of fact we can describe it as a shame."